BALAAM...Part V

Alright!

So we left off with King Balak of Moab telling Balaam to "go home immediately."

Is that what he did?

No...He died away from home.

Hold up you say? ... He died!

Did you really think that he would live in his continued fight against the Creator?

Okay... I am sorry. Many people are not familiar with the rest of the account.

When Numbers 24:25 said:

"Then Balaam got up and went and returned to his place," Cook's Commentary observed:

“Returned to his own place . . . Not to his own land, for he remained amongst the Midianites to plot by new means against the people of God, and to perish in his sin. . . . The phrase, which is of frequent recurrence (cf. e.g. Gen. xviii. 33,xxxi. 55; I S. xxvi. 25; 2 S. xix. 39), is idiomatic, meaning merely that Balaam went away whither he would.”

He went "whither he would" that is, he went away to keep plotting how to get his hands on the money and gain more glory.

Tricky. Tricky.

He figured, if he couldn't get God to curse them, perhaps God himself would curse his own people, if only they could be seduced to engage in sex worship of the Baal of Peor.

Guess he thought..."give them enough rope they will hang themselves."

He knew the God of Israel, and then again ... he didn't.

To confirm, Revelation 2:14 says about Balaam:

"Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, that you have there those adhering to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel,  .... to commit sexual immorality."

Also, Numbers 31:16 says:

"By Balaam's word," the daughters of Moab and Midian "served to induce the sons of Israel to commit unfaithfulness toward Jehovah over the affair of Peor, so that the scourge  came upon the assembly of Jehovah."

Numbers 25:1-9 shows enough women of Midian had sexual relations with 24,000 men of Israel who died for their sin.

Jehovah was not playing!

Even Midian and Balaam did not escape divine punishment. Jehovah commanded that all the men, women, and boys of Midian be executed; only virgins were spared.

"And they killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword." Numbers 25:16-18; 31:1-18.

Well now...

Here we are today rehashing Balaam's story. Just thinking how different things could have turned out for him if he didn't think he could outsmart Jehovah.

Of what benefit was the money and how long was his glory? ... Half a sec!

Remember..."God is Love."  John 4:8,

But, he is also "The Rock, perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness who is never unjust; righteous and upright is he." Deuteronomy 32:4.

Is that not what you would expect of a fair God? He didn't knock off the whole nation of Israel... Just those not loyal.

So maybe now the question is raised: Then what should the Midianites have done? The Israelites were headed their way.

GOOD QUESTION...

BALAAM...Part IV

Ok...so where were we? ... Ah yes!

Jehovah's anger blazed against Balaam causing the donkey to speak. Balaam had still intended on cursing Israel. We know this because if Balaam did Not curse them he would get no reward. Somehow he thought he might evade the divine restriction imposed upon him, curse Israel and gain honor and riches.

But Jehovah shocked Balaam into fear of tampering with his messages.

Proof that Balaam went with reward in mind, hence with a curse in mind--since he couldn't get that without performing the curses, is shown by Peter's words concerning covetous ones:

"Abandoning the straight path, they have been led astray. They have followed the path of Balaam the son of Be'or, who loved the reward of wrongdoing, but was reproved for his own violation of what was right. A voiceless beast of burden speaking with a human voice hindered the prophet's mad course." 2 Peter 2:15, 16.

Also, Jude validated this thought:

"Too bad for them, for they have followed the path of Cain (of Cain/Abel) and have rushed into the erroneous course of Balaam for reward." Jude 11.

The speaking donkey and the threat of the angel was the only thing to bring Balaam around.

Do we need the same to prevent us from taking a wrong course? ... Of course not! We have Balaam's donkey story to remind us.

So now the Moab King Balak must have been happy with Balaam's arrival. But it was short-lived. After the sacrificial partying, Balak took Balaam to an elevated site, so that he could get a good look at these people causing his nation fear.

Balaam requested Balak to erect seven altars and offer seven bulls and seven rams. Then, Balaam withdrew alone to a bare hill, to evidently perform some ritual.

Anyway...it didn't work. Jehovah caused Balaam to bless Israel three different times! Numbers 23:1-24:9.

Balak was hot!

In Numbers 24:10, 11, he told Balaam to:

"Go home immediately.  I intended to honor you greatly, but look! Jehovah has deprived you of honor."

What! ... Jehovah has "deprived him of honor" from a man afraid of his enemies?

(Not that he shouldn't have been afraid. We'll discuss that another time.)

Hummm....

Should not Balak's words been like an ice bucket douse?

Jehovah has just prevented you, three times, mind you, from your usually successful rites.

Now who is stronger?

And to make matters worst, Jehovah motivated Balaam to utter prophetic pronouncements that included a message of doom for Balak's own people--Moab!

Did Balaam finally learn that resisting God's will was useless? ... Did he go back to his home in Pethor?

Or was honor and glory from a fearful King more important?

To Be Continued...

BALAAM...Part III

If you are just tuning in, for the past couples of days we have been discussing Balaam of Balaam's Ass and what practical values we can glean from this account.

Oh...and please don't be put off by the huge diamond eye of Part II. It is not some icon to invite satanic influences into your home. I thought that the eye portrayed ... Greed :-)

Okay, where did we leave off? ... Yes, with Balaam skipping off to King Balak, as if Jehovah has actually granted him permission to curse the Isrealites!

Really, verse 21 doesn't state that he went "skippedly." I took artistic license. But you will gather his intentions later in the story.

Okay, so now we have Balaam on the donkey.

Verse 22 says:

"But God's anger blazed because he was going, and Jehovah's angel stationed himself in the road to resist him. Now Balaam was riding on his donkey, and two of his attendants were with him."

Here we go!

Verse 23..."donkey saw Jehovah's angel...with a drawn sword in his hand, it tried to turn off the road into the field. But Balaam began to beat" him.

Next, in verses 24, 25, the angel moved into a narrow path between two vineyards,  with stone walls on both sides. The donkey squeezed itself against the wall, jamming Balaam's foot against the wall.

Ouch ... for both Balaam's foot and the donkey, since Balaam beat him some more!

Lastly,  in verses 26-31, the angel stood in a place where the wise donkey could not go either left or right. He did what he had to do..."It lay down."

Probably wanted to cover its head from Balaam's blows, but chose those instead of a sword.

(A good and true connotation for the term "wise ass." He truly was one!)

Imagine ... when he began to speak up for himself, Balaam actually conversed with him!

Now if my donkey starting speaking to me...

Anyway, they had this conversation on why Balaam chose to beat his loyal donkey three times, when Jehovah reveals what the donkey has seen all along.

Now Balaam gets it!

Verse 31 says:

"At once he bowed low and prostrated himself on his face."

The angel went on to explain in verse 33:

"Supposing it had not turned away from me! By now I would have killed you and let the donkey live."

Let's stop here a moment to rethink. 

Did not Jehovah say in verse 20 that he could go? What made him blaze in anger?

Proverbs 17:3 explains:

"Jehovah is the examiner of hearts."

Verse 35 says:

"But Jehovah's angel said to Balaam: "Go with the men, but you may speak only the words that I tell you."

Do you think Balaam got the point?

How many times have we prayed for something that we seriously desired, knowing all along that it's not in our best interest or in the best interests of a majority?

Do we push ahead, hoping to still receive God's blessing, despite all indications that it's not his desire?

Micah 6:8 says:

"He has told you, O man, what is good.
And what is Jehovah requiring of you?
Only to exercise justice, to cherish loyalty,
And to walk in modesty with your God."

Was this Balaam's intent?

Stay tuned!

BALAAM--Part II

Hi...

In yesterday's blog entitled: BALAAM lived near modern-day Iraq, we established a basis for skeptics to believe in the Bible account in Numbers chapter 22 of Balaam and his donkey that spoke up for his self under the Creator Jehovah's direction.

Okay ... so why are we back to this biblical account, you ask?

Well, the story has practical value for us today. As we read of Balaam's story, various characters exist for us to identify with, either good or bad.

A little background info here...

Unbeknownst to the large Israelite nation, who had recently been freed from Egyptian slavery, gentile nations plotted their annihilation, since they saw this group had Divine backing. (This is the Jews previous life history because, as God's then chosen people, God's enemy Satan would Always wreak havoc upon them. It's his nature even to this day.)

Okay, back to Balaam.

The prophet, diviner, was very familiar with Jehovah--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because he lived in the region. So he saw first-hand God's blessings and dealings with this group. So when called upon to curse them he should have just outright rejected the job.

Are there not some jobs that maybe we too should just outright reject based upon principles of honesty, moral values, etc.?

However, it is sometimes difficult to do when our heart becomes engaged. Notice how this happens to Balaam when he is commissioned by King Balak of Moab.

First...Balak strokes Balaam's ego:

"For I well know that the one whom you bless is blessed and the one whom you cursed is cursed." Nu 22:6.

Balaam's pride is now involved.  Also, his Greed. Notice vs. 7 says:

"The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian traveled with the fee for divination in their hands and went to Balaam."

Remember, Balaam knew of Jehovah's feelings for Israel;  that he blessed them because of Abraham. Vs. 12.

So, verse 13 explains that Balaam did Not go because of Jehovah's refusal to let him go. But, the messengers saw that Balaam's Heart was not in the decision. That is why, in verse 15, King Balak sent a more prestigious entourage and 'Mo Money'.

"For I will honor you greatly and I will do anything you tell me to do." Balak said.

Since King Balak knows he will be defeated if Balaam does not curse the Israelites, does He have anything to lose with his False promises?

Should Balaam have even inquired of Jehovah?

Why would Jehovah change his mind?

Balaam knew; he said in verse 18:

"If Balak were to give me his own house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything Beyond the order of Jehovah God, whether small or great."

Yet...his Desire made him say in verse 19:

"But please stay here tonight also, so that I may learn what else Jehovah will tell me."

What else was there for Jehovah to tell him?

Verse 20 shows, Jehovah Did let him go, though stipulated:

"But you may speak only the words that I will tell you to say."

This is where we pick up with Balaam skipping off thinking he has made some headway towards his desire.

So now you may be wondering ... then why let him go?

That will be Part III...

BALAAM lived near modern-day #Iraq

Near #Tell Deir Alla, just north of the Biblical river #Jabbok, archeologists unearthed fragments of plaster enscribed with ancient #Semitic writings. The fragments were dated, compiled and deciphered.

#Andre Lemaire, you know, the French researcher, states Biblical Archeology Review, the Sept/Oct 1985 issue, explains that the inscriptions on the fragments submitted to radiocarbon dating tests were to be dated...get this! c. 800 B.C. (+ or - 70 yrs.)

So he did exist!

The inscriptions,  part of a fairly lengthy wall, were made available for public reading 2,800 years ago. Though written 700 years after the events, Balaam was obviously accepted as a historical figure and prophet, who lived near modern-day #Iraq.

Yes, Balaam's ass, of Numbers chapter 22, did actually talk!

This just emphasizes the fact that we can read Bible
accounts and accept them as #Truth.